Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996)

I love this movie so much

Simply Perfect

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A Major Disappointment

Sam Raimi made comic book cinema history with his gritty Darkman, which was solid entertainment, but the real dark and demented side of the franchise came through on the two sequels, which tossed aside stalwart leading man Liam Neeson as the titular antihero and went for offbeat, edgy character actor Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep in Stephen Sommer's The Mummy) as the doomed Dr. Peyton Westlake, a once brilliant and handsome scientist reduced to a disfigured, monstrous vigilante known as The Darkman. Raimi's film played it with a mix of straight and subversive, going for the underdog hero approach, while the third sequel, which is my favourite, is literally called Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, because someone at the studio boardroom table had too much caffeine and brainstormed the shit out of that abrasively hilarious title. Dr. Westlake is still doing his research on synthetic skin and skulking out there in the night pilfering supplies from random warehouses, one of which he'll wish he didn't mess with. Enter tyrannical, psychopathic drug lord Peter Rooker, played with moustache twirling, freaky panache by Jeff Fahey. Said warehouse belonged to him, and now he's zeroed in on Darkman and his super strength abilities, shrewdly trying to pirate them for his organization's nefarious deeds. The two wage a bloody war, with both of their families as collateral damage in between, an exploitation palooza of trashy, effects oriented fun. The first two films housed the villain Durant, embodied by inherently weird looking actor Larry Drake, who left big shoes to fill. Fahey seems to know this and plays up every campy aspect of this scumbag, his greased back hair lit perfectly, every mannerism an over-pronounced, garish villainous flourish to be savoured. I think the very concept of Darkman suits the tasteless excess of these two sequels better than it does Raimi's upright origin story, as classic as it is. I actually prefer the B Movie Glory approach to the material, and this third one is schlock incarnate.

I had the same feelings about this third installment as I had with the second, back in the mid 90's when I saw it for the first time. DARKMAN III even proved to be that forgettable, that I had completely forgotten about the story when I popped it in the VCR this week. Once again, I can safely say that I liked it better this time around. Was it because my expectations were now less? Or because by now I had seen a whole heap crappier movies already? I don't now… But in any case, this is still a fun sequel, again not near as good as the original, but this time certainly on par with the second. As sad as I was to experience the absence of Larry Drake (who played Robert G. Durant in the first two movies) in this one, I must say B-movie star Jeff Fahey is one hell of a replacement as the movie's main villain (Peter Rooker, chairman of Rooker Inc.). He plays it just the way it was required (a little over the top, evil-style) and is very convincing in his 'cartoonish' role. The lighting is often put to good use in this film, as for instance sometimes when Fahey spews an evil one-liner, his face is often half lit, leaving one side drenched in shadows. Notice even in the previous installments that Larry Drake's face often was lit from below, making him indeed look more menacing. Those are nice little details for me that I always appreciate. I'm quite sure that parts 2 and 3 were shot back-to-back, since they look and feel the same, they were both directed by Bradford May, and even in the introduction scenes of the second one, you can already see clips of shots and events that don't happen until in the third one. Other than this being somewhat useless trivia, it also means that if you liked THE RETURN OF DURANT, you will most certainly like DIE DARKMAN DIE too. This time there's even a little gore here and there. A guy gets decapitated (the same way as it is not shown in the first one ). Darkman removes an electric implant from his neck with a pair of tongs out of a gross-looking wound. Another guy gets that same implant stuck in his eye, which turns his face into a burned nasty mish-mash. Fun stuff! The climax in the end isn't much, but at least there is one, sort of, this time: It involves a lot of fist-fighting and Jeff Fahey going enjoyably over-the-top again.So there you have it. The Original, in my humble opinion, is a must-see for anyone who digs Sam Raimi's earlier movies. The sequels are just a fun ride for the less demanding horror/action fans. The recently released triple-disc box-set of the DARKMAN trilogy might be a nice purchase for newer fans who like to get acquainted with this vengeful Super-Hero from the Dark Side.Fans of the DARKMAN movies might also want to check out Dynamite Entertainment's DARKMAN VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS, the 4-issue comic book version. It's a fun (as in comical & 'cartoonish') crossover between the DARKMAN and EVIL DEAD movie franchises, featuring a complete new story-line and the return of two lovable movie characters to the painted page (Darkman & Ash)... and a whole bunch of not-so-lovable more if you count in the 'deadites' :)

OK,but does that make this a good movie?well,not really,in my opinion.there isn't a whole lot to recommend it.i found it very slow,tediously,in fact.it's also predictable pretty much through and through.number one and two were somewhat predictable,but not as much.i also felt this movie was quite campy at times,which i didn't really think fits this series and the character.Jeff Fahey plays the main bad guy in this installment.he's a decent enough actor,but i felt he played his character too over the top.i guess that fit with the tone of the movie,which would have been great if i had liked the movie.plus,there were some pretty bad one liners.Arnold Vosloo returns in the title role,but is given little to work with in this movie.the character has not really evolved,as i had hoped.oh well.this is just my opinion.anyway,for me,while this movie is not abysmal,it is pretty bad.my vote for Darkman III: 3.5/5

Despite what people say, I found DARKMAN III to be a better sequel than DARKMAN II. It had a quicker pace and more action that helped move the standard story along. Jeff Fahey is fun to watch as always, and Arnold Vosloo again does a good job portraying a sympathetic hero. The use of footage from the previous film in some scenes is a little distracting, but otherwise it's pretty good, and the scenes in which (a disguised) Darkman interact with the villain's child are nice. Obviously not up to par with Sam Raimi's original, but better than the previous sequel. I doubt we'll see them, but I wouldn't mind some more sequels.